Possible Risks of At-Home Aligners
Dr. B. Kanagasabapathy
[M.D.S. (Ortho), Fellow ICOI]
Teeth Straightening with clear aligners (invisible braces) has become the primary choice of many people who want to straighten their teeth. Clear braces have attained such popularity as they do not hold the difficulties associated with traditional braces whilst realign the teeth in a faster & safer manner.
Such orthodontic treatments used to be in-office treatments and are handled by expert dentists. Nowadays, the rise of using At-Home clear aligners has made teeth straightening treatments a “DIY Dentistry”.
It seems a cost-effective and convenient solution as reducing the number of dental visits but it does not mean such at-home teeth straightening kits are highly effective and will not cause problems.
Keep reading to explore the possible difficulties associated with at-home aligners.
1) No Consultation
Whatever your problem is, dentists begin the treatment with a consultation. It is not just a discussion regarding your oral problem but your dentist observes whether the problem happens due to bodily disorders or any external factors. This helps the dental doctors to derive a treatment plan as per those underlying conditions.
You cannot enjoy this advantage with at-home aligners because they are limited to providing braces with the impressions you made at home using the kits.
Similarly, such at-home braces are convenient in the first stage of treatment (impression stage) alone but you cannot get mid-treatment, follow-ups that are essential to streamline the dentition throughout the orthodontic treatment.
2) High chances of skipping pre-treatments
As stated in the above section, a dental consultation before beginning is essential to identify the existing problems in the crooked, crowded, or misaligned.
For instance, if a patient has cavities in a tooth and requires teeth straightening treatment, the dentist will fix cavities prior to initiating the orthodontic treatment. Otherwise, the cavities will become more problematic during orthodontic treatment.
Such ignored pre-treatments will lead to a halt to the teeth straightening treatments in the middle which elongates the treatment duration.
3) Inaccurate fit & High risks of damage
The effectiveness of orthodontic treatment is determined by how well an orthodontic brace fits over your teeth. Your dentist will adjust the aligners to ensure the orthodontic brace fits snugly against your teeth. In contrast, you cannot try how well the home aligners fit over your teeth.
Wearing dental braces with such inaccurate fit will cut the gums, intervene in chewing, and cause various discomforts throughout the course of orthodontic treatment.
4) Will make the treatment more costly
Many people prefer home aligners because they are cost-efficient. As home braces are not highly efficient, follow-ups are not involved, it will lead to various discomforts like gum recession, oral tissue irritations, etc. They will push you to get additional treatments that incur more costs.
Bottom line
Most of the home aligners available in the market provide the materials essential to take impressions at home. Once you send the impressions, the dental technicians of the home aligner companies prepare the aligner along with a treatment plan based on the impressions you sent.
Despite it seems convenient, it is suitable for minor & moderate teeth alignment problems and it lacks the personal touch of orthodontists and follow-ups. In simply, the home aligners are also beneficial but they are not effective as in-office teeth straightening treatments.
